Café Society

Parisians have tremendous fortitude for dining and drinking outside, a penchant that has only increased with restrictions imposed in 2008 on smoking inside restaurants.  Most cafes are equipped with plastic walls to keep the wind and weather at bay as well as heat lamps to create the semblance of warmth.  Even so, if you're planning on sitting on the terrasse at this time of year, you won't be shedding your scarf and coat.  As for the gloves, that's up to you.

I saw this woman sitting by herself on the terrasse of a café that in warm weather is always jam packed.  Is she lonely or merely contemplative?  Waiting for a friend or definitively on her own?  You can write whatever story you choose.  But contrast her with the folks on the interior who are warm and snug, engaged in conversation over lunch.  And if you look closely, you might even see me as a reflection in the window, taking a photo from my seat on the bus.